Our Forever
by hiddenartist1
Summary: Rose is once again sent back to her original universe, where she and the Doctor meet up once again. Their relationship, though, will never be the same. TenxRose, AU
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer : I own NOTHING. It all belongs to BBC and the makers of the show.**

**Authors note: This is my first Fanfiction ever, and the first time I have ever posted one of my stories. The Prologue is if you don't know the whole Rose/Ten thing, it's a little summary, but the first chapter begins the story, and that one will be in third person POV. I hope you like it! R&R**

Prologue

My name is Rose Tyler. I've gone through quite a journey so far, and can you believe it? I'm only 22! Well, to keep you up to date, I want to give the highlights of my past so far.

My adventure started when I was only 19, just living in an apartment with my mum and working at a shop. Then, this crazy man comes out of nowhere and blows up my job. That was the start of it. That was when I joined this brilliant man called The Doctor. That's what he calls himself, honestly. The two of us went on grande adventures (or, not so grande, but always exciting), and we had a strong, wonderful relationship going on. I have to admit, I did start falling for him, even if he was 900 years older than me.

Then, of course, The Doctor went and tried to save me and get his own self killed. Well, being a Tyler woman, as he would say, I am known to have a bit of a stubborn streak, so I didn't let him go to his death easily. I got into that TARDIS, and I looked into it's heart. Then, the next thing I know, I am waking up on the floor of the TARDIS, and The Doctor, _my_ Doctor, is talking like a crazy man. Then he is glowing, and this new man is standing in front of me, continuing to speak absolute nonsense.

I was more than a little shocked, mind you, but we got past it. And this new, rude, young, great haired Doctor made me fall for him all that much harder. He seemed to always be on the verge of telling me he felt the same way... yet every time, he wouldn't. Every time, my heart would squeeze, threatening to break on me, but always in denial that it would be the last time I would see him.

Then, one day, it was. I was sent away, to a parallel universe. Not alone, exactly, but I never felt more secluded than I was at that point. He called to me one night, somehow, and I went back to the place I got transported to, and i saw him again, standing there. Oh God how much I wanted to grab him and never let go... he was only a vision though. Even see through, for a moment. That's when I finally told him I loved him. he was going to say it back this time, he really was, but time ran out... and then my heart DID break.

In time, though, I was able to function. I started working my way back to him. and I got there, and helped him save the day once again. We never got the time to actually have a moment, a real moment, but I was with him again. Yet saving the day resulted in a half human repeat of him, but all was good.

Then The Doctor sent me away.

Again.

With the half human copy of himself.

It was supposed to be all good then, Id fall in love with the new new Doctor, and the new new Doctor would grow old with me. but things didnt go as planned, and thats where the real story starts.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The white walls of the hospital seemed to leach happiness out of the world as Rose sat next to the Doctor. He was approximately 89 years old now in human years, and she knew he was taking his last breaths. The wrinkles that grew into his face so quickly made him almost unrecognizable to the man he had been only a day before. A man who she was supposed to grow old _with_, not without.

She was struggling, _so hard_, not to break down and let herself cry as she sat in one of the uncomfortable hospital chairs, staring at the Doctor as he rested through his last hours. She wouldn't let the Doctor's last memories be of her crying.

"Rose..." The Doctor rasped, startling her as he lifted a frail hand to gesture her over to him.

"I didn't know you were awake!" She hurriedly stood up and walked over to the hospital bed, leaning over to listen to what he had to say.

"Find... Him.." and then he reached up and pressed the gold jewel on her necklace that he had made the day before.

She felt herself fading from this reality as The Doctor, the half-human Doctor, who only lived for two short days, died.

"No! Doctor!" She screamed as the necklace sucked her from her reality, and she passed out.

She didn't know how long she was unconscious before she awoke. Upon waking, she found she was laying in a hospital bed, and she was hooked up to an IV. Confusion caused her heart rate to speed up and the monitors began to speed up as well, only adding to her anxiety.

"What-" Then she remembered what had happened. The Doctor's Timelord genes didn't mix with Donna's right; the half-human Doctor died of old age only two days after the real Doctor left her at that beach once again.

Before he died, though, he spent the majority of his last hours making her a necklace. She accepted it without words as he was already growing frail by then. She had spent hours trying to get him to leave the Torchwood lab and get him to the medical center, but when the Doctor decides to do something, nothing will stop him. So she stood by and watched as he visibly grew older every hour.

Then they finally got him to a hospital, and he died. Only, he died alone. He wouldn't let her stay with him through the end, because that is how the Doctor is. Was. He sent her here, wherever here was.

She felt tears threatening to fall from her eyes as she thought of her Doctor, dying alone in that hospital.

Then something occurred to her.

"_Find... Him.._" The Doctor, did he send her back to her original universe?

Hope speared through her, determination followed right behind.

She hesitated only a moment before she began struggling with the IV and machines around the bed. The high pitched screaming of the machine must have alerted the nurses to a problem, because soon it seemed like half the nurses on her level were in her room.

Her struggle with the nurses was short lived, as she soon felt the sharp sting of a needle, the sedative quickly taking effect.

"No!" Now the tears did fall, desperation giving her one last burst of energy as she fought the hands pushing her down into the bed.

Then the darkness began closing in on her.

_Doctor._..

The Doctor froze for a moment as the TARDIS activated herself. He raced to the console, trying to figure out what was going on, muttering to himself as no one else was aboard. After a moment he gave up and just looked at the TARDIS. "What are you doing, Old Girl?" The TARDIS gave a slight hum before materializing. "Well that was helpful," He mumbled, not in one of his brightest moods.

With a resigned sigh, the Doctor stepped outside the TARDIS to find himself right next to a hospital. With a questioning look to the TARDIS before shrugging, he walked towards the doors. "Well, I'm at a hospital, looks like I need to check something out, so let's get checked out," he decided, continuing to speak to himself.

It was an hour later, and he was sitting up in a hospital bed, a grin split across his face as a nurse stood beside his bed checking his *heart* rate. She seemed to be going through some minor shock as she recognized him as having two heart beats.

The Doctor was quite amused. "It's weird, right?"

The nurse was just silent for a minute before she spoke."There's got to be something wrong going on around here..." She mumbled to herself, an odd note in her voice as she gave him a weird look and starting to walk away as if nothing was actually amiss.

The Doctor's curiosity finally piqued. Two heartbeats and no comment? Definitely something weird going on.

"Why? Something weird happen?" His eyes were alight with the expectation of an adventure.

The nurse paused and gave him an even weirder look. "You could say that," She started after a brief hesitation, "earlier we had a woman appear out of nowhere, quite literally, unconscious. Then we ended up having to sedate her when she woke. And then there's you." She shook her head, and started to walk away again.

The Doctor was definitely excited now, this was something interesting "Wait!" He called to the nurse, "where is she?"

The Doctor got up to the 7th floor, where this mystery girl was stationed. They had to sedate her, he found out. _She obviously had to look human, otherwise the scientists would be all over her, so she can't be _that_ alien,_ he thought, trying to figure out who or what this individual was. _ It could be possible that this girl is even an actual human. maybe from an alternate univer.._. The Doctor stopped that train of thought and the pain that would be brought with it before he could no longer function. _Hoping for that,_ he told himself_, will only crush you anew._

The Doctor paused outside room 738. _It's not her. It can't be her_, he chanted, but still couldn't help the tiny spark of hope that was lit within him.

He opened the door, and saw her laying in the bed, golden hair fanned out beneath her, skin pale as a ghost. But it was her. "Rose," he breathed, heart squeezing and yet glowing at the same time.


	3. Chapter 2

**Author's note: I'll be trying to get the chapters out as quickly as possible, I've got the first few mostly finished, but I'll be slowing down a bit. I shouldn't be more than a couple days between chapters. Thanks! :D**

_Rose watched as her half-human Doctor frantically built some sort of small device. He was growing old so quickly. It has only been 24 hours... He said he only had 24 more. and he was spending it building something. So like him. Then he finally stopped, and handed her the device, it hung from a chain; a necklace. He was panting. "Return... Back... Real... Home..." and then his eyes rolled back into his head and he passed out. Rose screamed out for someone to call an ambulance._

_Then Rose was leaning over him, and he pressed the button. "Doctor! No!"_

Her own thrashing woke her up, or so she believed. Swallowing, she recognized her throat as being sore from calling out. She felt another tear role down her cheek as she wished she would fall back to sleep, wanting it all to have never happened. Then she recognized hands resting on her shoulders, and realized she hadn't woken herself up. Her eyes flew open as she heard a voice she did _not_ expect to hear.

"Rose?" The Doctor stood above her, worry battling with relief in his eyes. He spoke softly, hesitating above her. "Are you okay?" His voice was rough, too many emotions battling inside him to keep himself completely under control.

"Doctor?" Rose lifted a hand to touch his face. When she felt the solidness there, and his own hand reached up to hold hers, Rose let out a sob, "You're here.. You're actually here.." her voice held disbelief along with pure, unblemished happiness.

The Doctor let out a shaky breath as he fought to keep his own emotions in check. "Rose, brilliant Rose, I will always be here for you." With that he got up and sat beside her on the bed to hold her while she cried.

After several minutes, Rose was silent. She had gone into overload, there was no other way to describe it. There was a part of her that chastised her for just breaking down like that, but the other part of her recognized that she had been through quite a lot in such a short time. First she managed to return to _him_, the man holding her now, then once again sent back to the other universe. With a copy of The Doctor. Then, she had to go through the hell of caring for The Doctor (half-human version) while he grew old and died within 2 days time.

Now she was back in her home universe, the one with the _real_ Doctor. And he is holding her right now. The Doctor, who would never accept, let alone admit, his feelings for her while she was actually there. _Things won't be the same._

Rose pulled back from the Doctor, letting out a breath as belief finally took root. And she looked at him, and saw what she hadn't seen earlier. His hair was the same, he had the same face as before, his clothing the same, continuing with his pinstriped suits. But his eyes, his expression, was different. The Doctor looked older somehow, more weary. Close to how we was when she first joined him. He looked so serious, his usual grin and childish excitement was gone.

"Doctor..." Rose breathed out, "My Doctor." While she felt worry for her Doctor's state of mind, a smile still began to creep into her eyes. She wasn't alone. She had her Doctor back. He had her now. He was no longer alone as well.

As soon as The Doctor saw the ghost of a smile in Rose's expression, something lifted off of his shoulders; a guilt he hadn't been aware he was harboring. Then a slow grin formed on his face.

The Doctor's transformation was clearly visible, and it created a mirror effect on Rose's own expression. Soon, the two of them were sitting on the hospital bed grinning like a couple of loons, a sight so similar to that of ones they've had in the past.

Rose spoke, momentarily forgetting about the past couple of days. "I'm back!"

The Doctor, for the first time in two years, had an true, honest smile in his eyes, and joy in his face. "Yes, Rose Tyler, you definitely are."

Then, much to their dismay, the doctor attending to Rose chose this time to enter the room. The Doctor's brain then did something it hadn't done in at least 600 years: it blanked out. For a moment The Doctor could not think of any excuse to give the *medical* doctor for Rose and his' situation and/or position. So, when the doctor stepped over into Rose's section of the room, The Doctor looked at the man, and completely spoke without any preparation.

"Hello!" The Doctor said, jumping up from the bed. He grabbed the doctor's hand and shook it heartily, a smile still plastered on his face. "My name is John Smith." With the doctor staring at him with a weird expression, The Doctor continued off the top of his head. "Rose here has been missing for quite some time, and I just found out she was here, so I was curious when I could take her out of here?"

The medical doctor, whose name tag said Dr. Jacobson, narrowed his eyes at The Doctor. "And what is your relation to her?"

"Oh!" The Doctor blinked once. Once again, his mind gone completely blank. _Twice in one day!_ So, he spoke without thinking. Again. "Why-she's my wife!" And then his mind caught up to his mouth, quickly working to correct the situation he put himself in. "Er, well, um" his hand moved to rub the back of his neck as he did whenever put in an awkward position.

"Well," he began again, his mind now working fast to cover up his mistake. "it's like I said, she's been missing for some time, so I don't know what the, uh, court or law or whatever says about that." He was quite deliberately not looking at Rose by that point.

Rose just continued to stare at The Doctor, dumbstruck by the turn of events. _He just called me his wife,_ Rose thought, the only thing in her mind right then. _The Doctor, _my_ Doctor, just called me his wife. I must have heard that wrong._ Her thinking caused her to miss whatever it was that Dr. Jacobson had said next. "Sorry, what was that?" Rose asked, trying to clear her head. The Doctor still did not look at her.

Dr. Jacobson continued to give the two of them weird looks, obviously doubting their honesty, as he repeated his question. "I need your confirmation, is this man your husband?"

Rose's gaze shifted over to The Doctor's. He had finally turned to look her in the eye. His face no longer held the playfulness that had been there only moments ago. Now it only held seriousness, and a question. Rose might have been in a different universe for the majority of the past two years, but she knew what The Doctor was asking. He was wondering whether she was going to go with him, travel with him for her forever.

It was a stupid question. A smile started to cover up her shock. She might have been answering Dr. Jacobson's spoken question, but her answer was directed towards The Doctor's unspoken one. "Yes. Yes he is."

A smile spread across The Doctor's face.

Dr. Jacobson stood and studied them for a minute while he thought. Then he spoke. "Okay, well, Rose, I guess it is, seems to be in good health. We, for some reason, could not find her fingerprints on record but that's not wholly unusual, so you haven't been officially checked in. You can leave any time then. Just get one of the nurses to take out the IV, and you will be good to go."

The Doctor grinned at that, an Rose smiled in relief and gratitude. Dr. Jacobson then nodded at them before leaving.

The Doctor then turned to Rose, a smile growing on his face as he raised an eyebrow. "So are you ready?" He asked, this time questioning her without an audience, leaving Rose more room to decline if she did not actually want to travel through time and space again.

Rose rolled her eyes, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. "How many times do I have to come back to convince you that I am going to stay, Doctor?"

He smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes as he thought back to those times that he had to say goodbye.

He opened his mouth to say something, but he seemed to change his mind.

He changed his expression once again, grinning at her. "I'll go get the nurse then." And he was gone.

Rose stared after him, wondering what he was going to say... But she knew that she had all the time in the world to figure that out.


	4. Chapter 3

An hour later, Rose and The Doctor were standing outside, looking back at the hospital.

Rose glanced over at The Doctor, "I wonder what Dr. Jacobson meant about not finding people's fingerprints on the record being "not wholly unusual"?"

The Doctor continued to look at the hospital, before glancing over to the TARDIS and then Rose. "It's near the Rift, they've possibly had more odd occurrences than most. It's probably not the first time someone has gotten in between dimensions; it's easier to travel between when someone is nearer the Rift."

Rose looked back at the hospital. "Huh. Odd, that." Then she turned to face the TARDIS and The Doctor. "Well?" She asked, prodding him to start the discussion she knew they were going to have to have.

The Doctor looked down at Rose, his smile growing as his focus turned to Rose. "Weeeeeell, I would say Welcome Home, Rose Tyler!" Then, laughing, he pulled her into a giant hug and swung her around.

Rose couldn't help but laugh at his enthusiasm. It was a small distraction to what the past two days had held for her. "Oh, it is wonderful to be back." Rose smiled up at him as he set her down.

Then her expression slowly grew more serious, though, as the euphoria decreased and her thoughts ran down a darker path.

The Doctor, always the master of avoiding things, spoke before Rose could say anything. "So," he started as he opened up the TARDIS doors for her, "Where would you like to go? Or should I say when?" He was quite obviously working extra hard to pretend nothing was wrong.

When Rose stepped inside, she no longer had the strength to pretend all was well. Her other Doctor was dead, she would never see her mum, dad, or Tony again. They were all gone. She looked over at The Doctor, desperately working to keep her tears at bay before she broke down once again. "Do I still have a room?"

The Doctor looked at her, surprised, and then his expression turned slightly guilty. Once again he rubbed at the back of his neck. "Yeah... I couldn't ever.. " He swallowed, emotions he had been fighting to keep buried threatened to come to the surface. "It's still there, same as when before... you know."

"Yeah... Do you think I could just... be back in a bit?" Rose asked, itching to escape before she became a sobbing wreck in front of him once again.

"Rose.." The Doctor moved to step towards her, but she was fled his support and raced down the hallway to her room.

He just stood back and watched her fleeting form. He struggled with his own feelings, part of him wanting to leave things as they have always been, and have an easy relationship with Rose. The other part of him knew it wasn't going to be that way.

As soon as Rose got into her room, she collapsed onto the bed, yet she still fought the tears that were falling from her eyes. Hugging a pillow to her chest, she curled up and closed her eyes, causing more tears to spill down her cheeks. She was fighting it, trying to breath slow, but her breath kept getting caught in her throat. And then all if it finally caught up with her, and she broke.

She didn't know how long she had been in there before The Doctor knocked on her door. Her tears had finally ceased, and she was no longer shaking, but she imagined she looked a complete mess. She pulled the blanket up higher, and then called a hoarse "come in."

The door opened, and The Doctor entered. He was holding two cups of tea, and silently offered one to Rose. His eyes were solemn, his face without any of the joyfulness it had held earlier.

Rose silently scooted over on the bed to allow room for The Doctor to sit down. The two of them sat in silence on Rose's bed for some time, just drinking tea.

Rose broke the silence with a question that had been bugging her while she wasn't going through an emotional roller-coaster. Time goes by so differently between the two universes, so she was curious; "How long has it been, for you, since Bad Wolf Bay - the second time through?"

The Doctor's face remained the same as he responded. "Oh, a year or so for me, give or take a few days. You know how time gets so lost on this here ship. It's been two Earth years since that last time at Bad Wolf Bay."

Rose just stared at the wall, downplaying her shock. "Oh. Is that it."

The Doctor looked over at Rose, his face continuing to be rather expressionless. "And you?"

The Doctor could see her throat working as she fought to keep calm. "It's been two days."

The Doctor nodded, half expecting something like that. While part of him didn't want to ask anything more for fear of making her cry, he also knew that he couldn't just sit around and do nothing, not like he used to. "Rose, what happened?"

She was silent for a moment before she responded. "You sent me back." Rose turned to him, her eyes glistening once more with unshed tears. "You keep sending me away when you know you need me."

Rose breathed out and looked up at the ceiling for a moment, The Doctor still said nothing. Then she pushed off the bed and started pacing.

_Deep breaths, you can get through saying this_, Rose thought to herself. "As soon as you and the TARDIS were gone, The Doctor - your copy - knew something was wrong. We got him to Torchwood as fast as we could, and that's when we found out that he was aging a little over a year for every hour. Then you started giving out all sorts of orders, and you began making this," She reached under her shirt and pulled out the necklace that the half-human Doctor had made.

Had it been any other situation or circumstances, The Doctor would have gotten up immediately to get a closer look at the object and figure out what he had made, but he also know that Rose needed him to listen right now. And The Doctor was also taking note of how Rose kept saying "you" instead of "him". Well, he had wanted her to think that they were the same person. _You succeeded_, The Doctor accused himself, _this is your fault._

Rose paused in her pacing and leaned her head against the wall, not looking at The Doctor. She closed her eyes as tears once again fell. And she finished her story. "You passed out after finishing it, after handing it to me. We got you to the hospital, and you were growing old.. so fast..." Rose paused, gulping in air as she fought to finish. "I was holding your hand. You woke up that last time and pressed that blasted button as I heard the monitors go flat. You died, but you sent me back to you." Rose was, once again, falling to pieces.

The Doctor hissed out a breath as he realized what she'd been through. His copy had sent her away just in time to watch him die. _Rassilon_, he swore at himself as he silently got off the bed and stepped over to Rose, _ I'm a bloody moron._

The Doctor reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. "Rose-" He started, but froze as Rose spun around and latched onto him,

"Why did you leave me?" Rose sobbed out as she held onto him. "Doctor.." She said as she fully succumbed to the tears and spoke no more.

The Doctor held a shaking Rose as he condemned himself to whatever Hell was out there. "I'm sorry Rose, I'm so sorry."

They stayed in that position for some time - The Doctor holding Rose as she cried. Once she fell silent and was no longer shaking in his arms, he pulled back slightly and looked down at her, gauging her state. Rose looked back up at him with a shaky smile.

"I know this is just a tad bit hypocritical," The Doctor started, working a smile into his features, "What with all that rubbish about no second chances, but do you think you can forgive me, Rose?" His smile was gone, all seriousness in it's place.

Rose sighed and leaned her head onto his chest. "You just don't get it, do you, Doctor." She shook her head and stepped back.

"Rose, I-" The Doctor stood still, momentarily lost. "I don't know what to say."

For a moment the two of them were silent, just watching each other. Rose then spoke up. "Can I stay?"

The Doctor's eyebrows winged up. Then The Doctor grinned, his smile not completely reaching his eyes. "I thought you'd never ask."

Rose laughed, the earlier emotional waterfall officially over. The first step to being happy is pretending.

The Doctor smiled at her, happy to know that they were, at least partially, on the same page. "Soooo, where would you like to go?" He asked, excitement lacing his voice. "We could go back to, oh, say... the pilgrims! Be there for the first Thanksgiving! Or we could go 50 years into the future, with flying cars and everyone alight with brand new technologies!" He rambled on as he dragged Rose into the console room, and then paused there and looked at her expectantly, eyebrow raised.

Rose's expression hardened slightly when she responded. "Could we go home?" When The Doctor's face clouded, and before he could respond, Rose interrupted. "I just want to see the world in once piece after I left it...I know I can't see Mum or anyone I know, I just..." Her voice trailed off, catching on 'Mum'.

The Doctor nodded silently as he reached out and grabbed her hand as a show of support. He then, one handedly, got the console going and heading to present day Earth. _The TARDIS needs a bit of a recharge anyways, so let's just hop in on the Rift. Just in case..._


	5. Chapter 4

**Author's note: I am getting the chapters up as fast as I can! Thank you so much for following and having patience with me! I'll have the next chapter up by tomorrow night, hopefully =) R&R!**

**P.S. I just had to bring in Jack for a quick bit, you gotta love Jack xD**

The Doctor and Rose stepped out of the TARDIS and into Cardiff. "We'll just leave the Old Girl here for a day, give her a bit of a recharge..." The Doctor trailed off in his ramblings when he saw Rose's face. Her expression was one of pain and happiness; an expression The Doctor had seen in his own eyes many times.

Rose was frozen outside the TARDIS, looking around at everything. None of the damage that the Cybermen and Daleks were sure to have caused was visible.

Then she sprinted off. "Rose! Wha- Oh, _why_ do they always do that!" The Doctor went sprinting after her.

She had come to a halt overlooking the ocean, her eyes on the sky. "Rose?" The Doctor approached her hesitantly, as if approaching a frightened animal.

Rose then looked over at him, her eyes glistening slightly. "I'm back. I'm really back." She laughed softly and looked back up at the sky. "No Zeppelins." She looked back around her. "It's as if nothing changed..."

She smiled, brushing her hair from her face. She turned and faced The Doctor. "He was you, I suppose, but I never got the chance to know him." She took a deep breath, bracing herself in a way, her face growing serious. "What I said before- nothing has changed."

"Everything has changed." They were silent for a moment, just watching each other. Then he stepped forward, and Rose's breath caught. The Doctor reached up, his hand coming to a stop before actually touching her. Panic fluttered through his eyes. "Rose, I-"

Then they were both interrupted. "Doctor!" They both spun around at the sound of his name being called. "Who was- Rose!"

They were greeted by the sight Captain Jack Harkness racing towards them, a grin split across his face. Jack paused in front of Rose before pulling her towards him and giving her a quick, but thorough, kiss. It was Jack, after all. Whatever protest Rose tried to make was cut off.

The Doctor had enough control over his facial muscles that he was able to lock away the glare he wanted to give Jack. The man must have picked up on the vibes, though, because he soon stepped back from a very dazed Rose and grinned at the Doctor before giving him a very _Jack_ kiss as well.

"It's good to see you two! It's been a good two years, hasn't it?" Jack's grin stayed on his face as he spoke to them. Rose couldn't help but laugh both at Jack's exuberance, as well as the Doctor's continued shock at being kissed by Jack once again.

"Yeah. How've you been?" Rose smiled.

"Oh, same as usual, chasing aliens and - " Then he paused mid-sentence, his hand reaching up to his ear to listen to his Bluetooth. "Okay, thanks Ianto, I'lll take care of it." He then glanced up at Rose and the Doctor, a smile growing on his face. "How do you two feel about reliving old times, and coming and helping me out. It seems we have a situation downtown with some of those alien friends."

The Doctor grinned at the prospect of another adventure, and looked towards Rose. "What do you say?"

Rose grinned. "I say let's do it!" And the three of them were off, running to downtown Cardiff.

After only a few seconds of running, a sudden and intense pain blossomed in her chest, causing her to gasp and stumble. She lost her footing just long enough to cause her to trip, twisting her ankle enough to send pain shooting up her leg. The pain in her chest began to recede at that time, but it was too late. Her ankle gave out beneath her, causing her to fall to the ground. She hissed out a breath, holding back the expletive that threatened to leave her mouth.

She wasn't down more than a few seconds when the Doctor glanced back, seeming to sense the lack of her presence behind him.

"Rose!" The Doctor immediately ran back to her, kneeling down beside her, Jack right behind him.

Rose had been holding her ankle, so she knew she wouldn't be able to hide her injury completely, but she had the Doctor's excited look in her mind, telling her he wanted to go on another adventure.

So, she pulled up her poker face, and tried to smile at him. "I just tripped, I'll be right behind you." She tried to stand up, avoiding putting any pressure on her ankle. She wasn't able to succeed entirely.

The Doctor was keeping an eye on her, though, so when she winced even once, he made up his mind. He turned to face Jack. "You go on ahead and do your job."

The Doctor could see the protest in Jack's eyes, but he must have gotten the message the Doctor was trying to send, because Jack then nodded.

"Alright, I'll see you two around!" Then he was sprinting off.

By that time Rose was standing. "What was that about? Why aren't we going?" While part of her still wanted to convince the Doctor nothing was wrong, the rest of her knew that the Doctor knew something was up.

"We are going back to the TARDIS, and I don't appreciate you lying to me, Rose." The Doctor's tone allowed no room for argument.

But she was Rose Tyler. She had to argue.

"I wasn't lying!" Rose objected, the two of them staring at each other. The Doctor knew he was right, and Rose believed she was _in_ the right, so the two of them held a staring contest, willing the other to back down.

After a minute, Rose sighed, giving in. "Fine, but I didn't lie." She crossed her arms, ever the stubborn woman.

The Doctor couldn't help but smile at Rose, looking all indignant. "Guilty by omission. Now, back to the TARDIS, you."

She was still more annoyed than amused, so she narrowed her eyes instead of letting herself laugh. She declined the Doctor's attempt to help her walk on principle. She was annoyed with the timelord for seeing through her facade. She struggled not to limp on her way back to the TARDIS, but only halfway there she had to pause because the pain in her ankle got to be too much.

"Okay," The Doctor had had enough. He let her be stubborn for part of the journey, now it was his turn. "Are you going to continue to be stubborn, or will you let me help?"

That only caused her to regain her determination. She straightened her back and started to walk again, not answering him.

"You asked for it.." he said too quietly for her to hear. He then walked up behind her and swung her legs up off the ground, carrying her.

"Oi! Put me down!" Rose struggled against him, but it was useless.

"You had your chance, Rose Tyler, but you didn't want help, remember?" The Doctor was calm in the face of Rose's wrath. "So I decided to take the situation into my own hands. No pun intended." He grinned at her, amused with himself.

She crossed her arms once more, not saying anything else. She didn't really want to have to walk more. Plus, being held in his arms? That's not so bad.

Once they reached the TARDIS, the Doctor gently set her down, careful not to do anything to hurt her ankle any more. Once he got the door open, he turned to her. "Will you accept help this time, or do I need to carry you again?"

She narrowed her eyes at him, but nodded in acceptance anyways. The two of them hobbled through the TARDIS to the med room. The TARDIS was giving out a slight hum, alerting the Doctor to it's worry over Rose as well.

Rose hissed out a breath as she hopped onto the table, accidentally bumping her ankle. "I think it's just a sprain, nothing that bad. You can go help out Jack."

The Doctor paused in his rummaging around and looked at her, slightly annoyed. Gesturing with some sort of alien artifact, he interrupted her from saying anything more. "You of all people should know better than to argue with me when it comes to your safety." Then he paused, something occurring to him. "Oh wait, no, that's what you always do." He turned back to his rummaging as if nothing had been said.

Rose sat there, not sure if she was more shocked or amused. Then he turned back to her, holding what looked to be a bigger version of the sonic screwdriver. She raised an eyebrow at that, surprised it wasn't some other weirder looking item.

Then the Doctor was gently pulling up her pant leg. She struggled not to react to the gentle touch of his fingers on her skin.

"Tell me when it hurts." His voice was flat, neutral. It was the same one he used whenever he tried to distance himself. Very similar to when he tried to send her away to the parallel universe the first time.

"Doctor?"

"Hmm?" He didn't even look up at her.

She almost asked him, _almost_ asked if he wished she hadn't come back, but she swallowed down the words and looked away. She knew he would never admit that. "Never mind."

He glanced up at her, confused in his face. "What is it, Rose?"

She just shrugged in response. Then the Doctor's fingers came into contact with a sensitive part of her ankle. She hissed out a breath. "That hurt."

Then the Doctor began to do something with the big sonic screwdriver thing and her ankle, and she never felt a thing after that. After a few minutes she laid down, the fatigue from the last couple days finally coming down on her. She struggled to stay awake, but ended up giving in.

It was maybe a half hour later when the Doctor stopped whatever he was doing and stepped over to where her head was. When he saw that she was at least mostly asleep, he gently gathered her into his arms before carrying her back to her room.

He carefully laid her down onto her bed, pulling the covers over her and putting a pillow behind her head.

"Goodnight, Rose." He whispered to her sleeping form.

He meant to leave after that, he really did, but he was frozen in place for a minute. He had her back. It was finally hitting home. He had a second - no, _third_ - chance to make it right with her. With his Rose.

He gave in to his urge and leaned down and kissed her forehead, his lips lingering. Then he left before he could do anything else.


	6. Chapter 5

_Rose Tyler, I-" And he disappeared._

_Her heart shattered in that moment. She didn't think she could feel that much pain on the inside. It broke her._

_She raced over to Jackie who met her half way, and held on as she lost her strength to stand. Her sobs were too intense to be vocalized, silent tears streaming down her face._

Rose woke up with sobs wracking her body. She felt herself choking on her tears, unable to breath properly. Objectively, she could feel herself hyperventilating between sobs, but she couldn't do anything to continue. The pain... So much pain, in such a short period of time...

The Doctor was in the console room, fiddling with something below the console as he waited for Rose to wake up after the whole ankle ordeal. He was working mindlessly as he tried to not think about his situation with Rose. He wasn't succeeding. He kept seeing her lying on that hospital bed, lying there all alone.

He ran a frustrated hand through his hair. He had no excuse to send her back, none that would be acceptable for either him _or_ her. He couldn't just drop her off somewhere, not without Jackie there to be with her. But that was just it, he didn't _want_ to send her off. He wanted her with him. Forever. But that wasn't an option.

Then the TARDIS began acting up, tearing him from his thoughts. Lights flashed in the control room, a low hum indicated urgency.

As he pushed himself out from underneath the console, the TARDIS sent him an image of Rose. The telepathic link between himself and the TARDIS allowed the ship to alert him to where the problem laid.

_Rose_.

He immediately raced to her room, not even thinking twice before pushing open her door and entering her room. He froze for only a fraction of a second when he saw her and the shape she was in. Concern and worry began warring inside him as he crossed over to her. He sat down beside her, gently pulling her towards him as he fought to stay calm for the both of them.

Rose latched on to him as he tried to ease her panic and even out her breathing. He rocked her slightly as his heart broke for her. Her crying was so heartfelt and intense, he knew he would never get that image out of his mind. An unconscious part of him came to a decision as he sat there, comforting her.

Had the Doctor been paying attention to his surroundings, he would have connected the dots. As it was, only a small part of the Doctor noticed the TADIS calming down along with Rose

A couple minutes later, Rose was only shuddering in his arms, no longer crying. "Sorry," She spoke into his shirt, her voice hoarse. She had thought she was over the whole crying thing, but it appeared she was wrong. And that dream, she hadn't had it for a year or so, she thought she was done with reliving that particular memory. Once again, she was wrong.

She struggled not to think any more about it, knowing she would start crying after even a moment's thought about it.

Then the Doctor pulled back, worry in his eyes. "You don't ever need to be sorry for crying, Rose, _ever_."

Rose closed her eyes, struggling not to let more tears fall. She still couldn't let go of him, the memory of his fading image still forefront in her mind.

"Do you want to talk about it?" The Doctor's voice was soft above her.

_Yeah. Talk about how my head breaks every time I think about how you have never said those words. How you just /wont/ say those words that I so /need/ to hear. That would go over well._ She shook her head. "It was just a bad dream."

The Doctor narrowed his eyes as he detected the false note in her voice. "Rose, you know you can tell me anything, right?"

Rose pulled back from him then, shaking her head. "I know, but - " She was interrupted by that pain in her chest once again, only this time it wasn't quite so focused. The pain traveled outwards, only a little, but enough to cause her to cringe and reflexively try to flinch away from the pain. For several seconds she sat straining against the wall behind her, gritting her teeth.

Her mind couldn't help but try to figure out what was causing the pain. She went through a mental list of possible causes, but couldn't really come up with anything concrete. The only guess she had was that she hadn't eaten, so maybe it had something to do with that.

Vaguely, she noted how the Doctor hovered hopelessly over her, worry in his face as he called her name. She tried to force a smile for him, but guessed that it came out more as a grimace due to his concerned response.

Then the pain slowly receded and she could breath easy again.

"Rose?" the Doctor spoke hesitantly, as if the wrong word would set her off again. "Are you okay?"

She smiled again, though it didn't quite reach her eyes. "I'm okay, just some chest pains. They should go away -" And as if on cue, her stomach growled, "once I get something real to eat, I think. I haven't eaten since... Well, before I got here."

The Doctor was silent, only for a moment, as he though through her answer. Logically, he knew that hunger wouldn't cause chest pains, but if she was hungry, maybe some food would ease the discomfort.

He hid his concern, not wanting to risk inflating her's. The situation was bad enough without her panicking about it. So, to deflect any additional concern, he quickly jumped off the bed. "I know just the thing to fix that! You stay put, Rose Tyler! Doctor's orders!" With that, he was bounding out the door, leaving Rose to sit there with an amused look upon her face.

As soon as he left the room, though, her expression grew dark. She didn't know how much longer she could put upthe facade of not caring. Not only was her heart breaking every time she thought of him, and her family back in the other universe, but now she had a physical pain to go with it.

Her mind then wandered to her ankle. She had fallen asleep while he was working on it, so she wasn't sure what exactly he did. She pulled her leg up towards her and gently rolled out her ankle. Only part of her was surprised when she didn't feel the slightest bit of pain. The Doctor and his toys did tend to prove useful.

She was still massaging her ankle when a knock sounded at her door. "Come in!"

The Doctor entered with a breakfast tray, an image that cause Rose to grin. _So much for not doing domestics_. He set it down in front of her, revealing fish and chips, along with a cup of tea.

She knew he must be seriously worried to have stooped down to domestics to try to help.

"Bon a petit!" The Doctor was putting up a happy face for both of them, but he knew something was going on with Rose. She was dealing with pain, both physically and mentally, and he knew that. The physical, he needed her to tell him about it before he could do anything. The mental, he was pretty sure he knew what was bothering her there. It was bothering him as well.

When he decided what he was going to do, he was surprised to find himself already fully accepting of the idea.

So, on his way out the door, he pause, and looked back. Rose was already eating, proving how hungry she was. Normally she would wait until he wasn't around before she ate when they were in the TARDIS.

"When you are finished eating, Rose, I want to show you something." He was all seriousness now. He only waited until he got her nod, then he left the room.

In the console room, he stopped and braced himself. Nothing in the universe scared him more than what he was about to do.

Then he got the TARDIS going.

Rose hadn't realized how starving she was until she took a bite out of one of the french fries, at which point she began devouring her food. She had completely forgotten the Doctor was in the room with her. So when he spoke up, she was slightly startled. Then when he asked that question, a sense of foreboding came over her.

The meal wasn't nearly as satisfying as it was before. She finished up quickly, and didn't even bother taking the tray back to the kitchen when she felt the TARDIS activate. Her curiosity only grew more.

She walked down the hallway, hesitant in her steps. All she could think was that the Doctor was acting strange... why?

She paused at the entrance to the console room when she saw the Doctor staring at the doors of the TARDIS, a hand running through his hair.

"Doctor?" She spoke softly, not wanting to startle him, but worried about what was going on.

He spun around, his entire expression guarded. "Rose." He reached a hand out, waiting for her to take it. She was struggling not to panic with the Doctor acting the way he was.

She walked across the room and took his hand, at which point he led her to the doors of the TARDIS, still saying nothing. Opening the doors, what lay before them was magnificent.

"Is that-"

"A supernova." The Doctor answered for her.

She could feel his eyes on her as she stared out into space. It was beautiful.

Then the Doctor spoke. His voice was quiet, but it was loud enough that she could hear. "I burnt up a sun just to say goodbye."

She froze.

**Author's note: I know. I want to hurt me too. That was a cruel and evil way to end the chapter. Especially since it will take me a few days to finish the next chapter. But it just had to be done.**

**I want to thank you all again for reading this! It has been really nice to see the interest in this story that has been sitting -no- ****_BOUNCING_**** around my mind for a while now. I appreciate any and all reviews! Thanks again!**


	7. Chapter 6

_"I burnt up a sun just to say goodbye."_

_She froze._

Slowly, Rose turned to face the Doctor. His eyes were boring into hers, intensity pouring out of him.

Her heart was pounding in her chest as hope and pain battled inside of her. That memory was still so fresh from her dream. To have him bring up that same time...

"I've never done that before." His mouth quirked up slightly, but his eyes were dark, conveying the importance of the admission. "I come here sometimes, wishing I could go back in time... I come here, to think of you."

She was frozen, nothing could express what she was feeling at that moment. All of those memories and feelings that she felt that day were breaking through. Except, he was standing right in front of her this time, not a universe away. On the inside she was begging him to continue as she fought to stay calm on the outside.

Then his hand came up to cup her face, and her breath caught.

"I am so, _so_, sorry that I put you through all of that."

Her eyes fell shut as she let herself, just for a moment, relive the pain of those _years_ apart. Then she felt the Doctor's hand move, gently wiping away the tears she hadn't been aware she was letting fall.

Hope sparked within her as she opened her eyes. Surprise mixed into it when she saw her own pain reflected in his eyes.. _Go on,_ she willed the doctor wordlessly, _say it_.

Then came the smothered hope as he pulled back and turned away. Rose wrapped her arms around herself as she turned away as well. Her attempt to block the pain in her heart only made his dismissal hurt worse. Her hands shook as she fought not to succumb to the tears that built in her eyes. She was working to put up the carefree face when he spoke again.

"I wasn't finished."

She spun around, barely daring to hope again. Apology shown softly in his eyes as he stood there, holding...

"Is that... my jacket?" Stunned, Rose stood there just looking at piece of clothing in the Doctor's hands, her tears momentarily forgotten.

A small smile crept onto the Doctor's face. "You always did leave your stuff everywhere," he said fondly. Then he grew serious once more. "After you left, I couldn't bring myself to do anything to your room. But this you left laying on one of the railings in here. Through all these years, it's never been far. I would never have forgotten you, Rose, but this way I always had part of you with me." He set the jacket back down, laying it over the railing beside him.

She didn't think it was possible, but the love in her heart for the Doctor grew even more so than before. She was deeply touched by his gesture and it was killing her.

"I wanted, _needed_, to show you all this because I don't want you to have a shadow of a doubt in your mind."

Then he stepped towards her, stopping right in front of her. Her heart stopped as he took both of her hands in his.

"Rose Tyler, I love you more than you could even imagine." His hands tightened around hers as a smile made it's way into his eyes. A golden glow seemed to fill her vision as her heart shuddered with both joy, and a little bit of relief. The Doctor was always honest, so what he said was true.

"Of all the people in the entire universe, you are like none other. Somehow you always find a way back, and I _never_ want that to change." His eyes shown with the love he spoke of, and she felt it all the way down to her bones.

The tears thatt gave way this time were of happiness, and she didn't even bother trying to stop them. Everything was okay just in that moment, and she knew it was all worth it.

"And I love you, my Doctor."

Then their lips met in a kiss that was years overdue. Her arms came around him, wrapped around his shoulders while he held her, his arms holding her tight against him.

When Rose pulled back to breathe, still held on to him tightly, not daring to let go. "Don't ever send me away again, you hear?"

His voice was rough when he responded. "I couldn't bare doing that again. My hearts belong to you now, Rose, I won't be able to let go of you now." His head rested on top of hers, the two of them just holding on to each other.

Then the TARDIS flashed it's lights at them, startling Rose. "What - "

"Ah. And now it's time for my other... gift..." The Doctor grew serious, stepping back from her. "My.. Duplicate, shall we say, sent you away without time to say goodbye. I know that feeling. And so, your family is waiting at Bad Wolf Bay, all you need to do is stand there." The Doctor's eyes were dark, pain and knowledge were shadowed behind worry.

"I could say goodbye to my mom and dad?" Rose's voice was barely above a whisper. She felt her heart already start to break a little as the Doctor stepped over to the console and pressed some buttons.

"You only have about 3 and a half minutes, and then you need to say goodbye. And remember, they can't actually touch you. Physically, you are just an image. I'll say something at the 3 minute mark as a warning. And Rose? Remember I will be here when it is over." He didn't bother smiling before pressing another button, and then she was on that beach once again.

She looked out over the sand and to her mom and dad. And the pain was shattering. "Mum..." Her voice was hoarse, startling Jackie as she spun around.

"Rose! Oh my God, Sweetheart! Where have you _been_, what happened, where _are_ you?" Jackie's voice was panicked. She had started to run strait towards Rose, but stopped when Pete held her back.

"Jackie, Love, she isn't actually there." Pete's voice was pained.

Rose tried to smile for them, but wanted to run to her mother and hug them both so bad. So her smile was a bit shaky. "Don't worry Mum, Dad, I'm with the Doctor. The actual one."

"You mean, back in the other universe?" Jackie stood frozen, not wanting to accept that.

"Yeah... The other Doctor sent me back here, and the real Doctor found me." When she saw the tears start to stream down her mother's face, Rose's facade started to brake a little. "It'll be okay, Mum. You have Dad, and soon you will have Tony, and it will all be okay." She was fighting to reassure both herself and her mom. She struggled not to let the tears fall as she stood there, her heart breaking for the loss of her family.

_"You hit three minutes, Rose."_

She wiped away the tears on her face.

"Mum, I don't have much time. I won't be able to come back. Ever." Jackie was sobbing by that time, shredding Rose's heart to peices. "Dad, you take care of her, you hear? I love you both, Okay?" Her voice grew thick as she fought to get past the lump in her throat.

"Stay safe, Rose." Pete's voice was strangled.

"I love you Rose! Stay safe! And Doctor! If you can hear me, keep her safe! I love you Rose!" Jackie was crying as she said those words.

And then the beach was gone.

The TARDIS was blurred by Rose's tears, and she broke down, crumpling to the floor.

"Oh, Mum..." She cried, feeling pieces of her heart crack off as she thought of every time she had had with her mom, and knowing that that is all the memory of her she will ever have. "Mum..."

Then The Doctor was at her side, holding on to her. He had been through that pain, so he knew there was nothing he could do, but every sob that wracked her body clawed at his heart. Logically, he knew he did the right thing, but he felt terrible about it.

So, he did the only thing he could do. He picked her up and carried her back to her room. She latched on to him as he walked, and he felt his heart break for her just a little bit more.

He laid her down on her bed, never once letting go, and then held on to her as she went through the grieving process.

**Author's note: Hey guys... It might take me a few more days for this next one. The ending of this chapter was tough for me, so I might give myself a day extra for the next one. Plus fathers day is sorta day after tomorrow, and that will put things back a little as well. It's not as much a cliff hanger as the last one, so at least there's that. Sorry for being a bit slower with the next one. And thanks again for the reviews! they mean a lot to me! Thank you all!**

**Oh, and just to make it official, I am _not_ done. There is more fun to come!**


	8. Chapter 7

At some point Rose fell asleep, dreams taking her away from her reality. The Doctor still laid next to her, his arms still encircling her. She had fallen asleep curled up to him, so he held on. He used the time to allow himself to think.

He told Rose his feelings, which he knew was not a mistake. And he had orders from Jackie to keep her safe, and part of him felt that if he didn't succeed, Jackie would show up somehow and smack him around some more. Not that he needed incentive, he loved her with every beat of his hearts, and that was most definitely incentive enough.

There were two problems though. Rose was... well, Rose. She had a heart of gold and tended to get herself into trouble because of it. That, and she also was a human with a human life span. Granted, a very stubborn human, but a human none the less.

This girl beside him who had captured his hearts would only live another 60 years or so, while he had hundreds.

Frustration made him want to get up and pace, but he couldn't bare to tear away from Rose.

In all the worlds in all the universes, there had to be _something_ out there to help... But where to start looking? And how would he do it without alerting Rose to his anxiety?

He couldn't help the hint of amusement that flickered through him at the thought of Rose's reaction to him trying to protect her from his thoughts. Annoyed, irked, frustrated - all the small things that made her her.

He just wanted to keep her for his forever. How was he supposed to give her up without a fight? That was just it, though, he wouldn't. He was just going to figure out a way to get to where he needed to go without Rose figuring out that something was going on.

Once again, his thoughts came to a halt. Where to start?

"You are thinking too loudly, Doctor." Rose's voice was slightly hoarse from the... emotional explosion earlier. She yawned as she shifted to a more comfortable position.

The Doctor was still surprised that he hadn't noticed her wake up. Usually he could sense that type of thing. Apparently, he was too distracted. "I was not! I was keeping my thoughts calm and quiet! ish!" There was no way he'd admit otherwise, but he grinned in acknowledgement of her insight.

Then he studied her, gauging her state of mind. Her eyes were still slightly puffy from the crying, and her hair was about as mussed up as the clothes she had slept in. His worry increased, but she spoke before he could say anything.

"I don't know if I want yesterday to be a dream or not..." Then she reached up to massage her temples. "by the way my head is hurting, though, I would say that it did happen."

A small smile crept onto her face as she looked up at him, though. "I am pretty sure I _am_ glad it did happen." She glanced down at her hands resting on her lap. Her smile slowly faded. "I'll miss my mum and dad, but the rest?" She gently shook her head, "I had nothing else there for me. I think I've proved that I'd rather stay with you, forever."

She was just about to look up at him when two things happened simultaneously. The pain in her chest fired through her once again, and the TARDIS also activated herself. She gasped out a breath, curling in on herself as the pain got more intense, and at the same time less focused. It was spreading, painfully twisting through her.

The Doctor was frozen for a moment, his eyes flashing between Rose and the door, wanting to figure out what was wrong with both Rose and the TARDIS at the same time. Rose first. If something was seriously wrong, then the TARDIS would have sent him an image or warning.

Just as he was about to do... something, _anything_, for Rose, she spoke up. "Go take care of the TARDIS, I'll be okay." Her voice was slightly strangled, but her words were steady.

The Doctor hesitated just a moment before listening to her. "I'll be right back, Rose." Then he was running out the door.

Rose, he had to admit he was sort of clueless on how to help, but the TARDIS he knew _very_ well. He was only in the console room for a few seconds, though, before the TARDIS materialized. He spun around, looking for nothing in particular, before talking to himself. "_what_ is going on?!" Then he turned around again to head back to Rose's room, but she was standing in the doorway, catching him off guard once again.

"Rose!" He ran over to her, his arms resting on her shoulders as he did a quick visual examination of her, as if that would discover what was wrong.

"Doctor! I'm fine." Rose interrupted him.

"Fine. Everything is fine." Frustration drove his hand through his hair as he glanced around himself. "Blimey! Everything is going bonkers!" His hair was sticking out in every direction, looking almost as crazy as he felt. "What is going _on_! And where _are_ we?" Then he spun around and strode over to the doors, missing the amused look Rose gave him.

He was cute when he was frazzled.

He flung open the doors, and froze. "What - ?" confusion and disbelief played across his face. He didn't recognize this place at _all_. "What?" He glanced back into the TARDIS and then back outside. "_What?!_"

Rose grinned and walked over to the Doctor, glancing outside to see what was causing him such distress. She was only surprised enough to raise her eyebrows. "Are those... Tin men?"

He stood frozen for a moment longer before shaking off the confusion, grinning at Rose. "They do appear to be such! You named them, Rose!" Then he pushed out of the doorway and looked around, confusion still in his face.

They appeared to be in the middle of a Central Park type of place. People were everywhere, or well, _tin_ people were everywhere. That was literally what they were. Tin people.

Rose grinned. Traveling with the Doctor could never get old.

"Well, it seems to be a mostly Tin men planet, although there does appear to be a good amount of the human species as well. Ah! A kiosk, it looks like! Maybe we will find some answers."

As they walked over, Rose looked around and paused when she saw the one building. Something about it... "Is that a museum?"

The Doctor stopped and looked over to where she was pointing at. "It could be, I'll ask the tin... lady." He was too distracted to be confused as to why she would have asked that in the first place.

"'Ello! I'm new around here and..."

The Tin Lady then interrupted him, pointing to a list of words on the counter. The Doctor recognized them as different languages, and then clicked on English. The Tin Lady then began to speak.

"Hello, sir! Welcome to Olc Mac Tire Oilean!"

Rose's focus drowned out the Doctor's and the Tin Lady's voice.. That museum... She didn't know why she was so sure it was a museum, but she just knew it. It was as if the building was drawing her towards it. She didn't even glance over at the Doctor as she started walking over to it.

The Tin Lady continued to speak to the Doctor. "Or, in your language, it is also know as Bad Wolf Isle! We have many different attractions for you to visit, such as the park of excitement on your left, Drach Mac Tire Museam on your right, again also known as the Bad Wolf Museum, and straight ahead is the Forest of Fun! Do please take a catalogue with you on your stay here!"

Dread slowly increased within the Doctor as more Bad Wolf connections began to make itself known. He glanced back to Rose, about to say that they should just leave as Bad Wolf never boded well, and froze when he saw that she wasn't there. His mind went momentarily blank, panic quickly flashing through him at the thought of being without her went through his mind.

Once again, he ran a hand through his hair, allowing frustration to leak through before getting himself under control again. _Can that girl _ever_ stay in one place?! _Then determination took root inside him. There was _no_ way he was losing her right after he just got her back. Right after he told her how he felt.

"Excuse me, sir, " The tin woman spoke once more, interrupting his thoughts. "That woman you were with? I believe she went into the Museum." She pointed over towards the Drach Mac Tire Musaem.

"Thank you!" Then he was running towards the large building that was the Bad Wolf Museum.

Rose stepped inside and it was just like a museum back home. Employees were handing out brochures and just letting people walk around and tour the museum at their own pace. It appeared to be a one day free deal.

She walked down one of the hallways, and was shocked to see a full Cyberman's suit standing next to a... stuffed Slytheen?. It was like a supersized version of VanKuren's museum. She paused when she came upon a sign that read in different languages. _Live specimen on basement level_.

The last time there had been a live specimen, she had almost been killed by a Dalek. Her heart jumped into her throat for a second, and then she became determined. Whatever was down there shouldn't be there.

She paced over to the elevators, hitting the button with the arrow pointing down. _If they are housing another Dalek, I am going to give them a piece of my mind..._

Once she got to the bottom level, she walked over to where everyone was crowding around a wall of glass. What she saw almost made her laugh out loud.

"A bird! Hah!" Then she glanced over at the people around her and she bit her lip, remembering she wasn't with the Doctor.

Then she turned around to leave, only to come up short when she saw two very big men in armored suits standing right in front of her.

"Uhm," She glanced around, wondering if anyone else thought it was weird, and her stomach dropped when everyone was now turned towards her and the two suits of armor and taking pictures. She winced as she turned back. "Can I help you?"

"You must come with us." One of them spoke, it's voice robotic.

"Okay..." Her eyes searched the area around her, hoping that the Doctor had somehow found her. Her stomach dropped when she realized she was completely alone.

They opened up a set of doors that led to another section of the basement, and she was hesitant to go through them. Then one of the suits pushed her through the doors.

She vaguely heard a speakerphone in the main room activate as the doors closed. Dread filled her.

_"Live Specimen Retrieved."_

**Author's Note: I have some good news! Or bad news, depending how you look at it xD I should have the story finished in 2 chapters, theres a possibility of a third, but I highly doubt that. It's coming to an end! Don't be afraid to give me some reviews! Thank you guys for reading this and motivating me to finally finish a story =D See you again in, probably under, two days' time!**


	9. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: I had to format this chapter a little bit different, making the changing of perspective more pronounced due to Rose and the Doctor being in different situations. So, there is a little bit, er, sorta a lot, of jumping between the two so as to keep both sides of the story on the same time line. Hope you don't mind too much! The -POV- indicates a point of view change. **

Rose kept her head looking straight forward as her eyes sought frantically for an exit. The suits of armor were leading her from behind, pushing her whenever she started to slow down. _Oh,_ what _did I get myself into this time_? She wished the Doctor was near.. If only she hadn't left...

Then they came to a stop, causing her anxiety to increase. They pushed open another door, this time into a room that was full of heavy duty equipment. Her throat grew dry. Then the two suits of armor grabbed each of her arms and pulled her towards a metal gurney type of thing. Her struggles did not even pause them.

"Stop! What are you doing? Let go of me!" Her cries fell upon empty ears as they strapped her in and rotated her vertically. She was breathing heavy as she tugged against the straps holding her in. "My friend will come and he will make you regret this!" She yelled, hoping that whoever was behind this would hear her.

Then a tin man walked into the room, studying her. "Your friend? Is 'he' the same as you?" He asked as he stepped over to a machine that stood opposite of her.

She glared at him. "No, he isn't, - " Then before she could say anything more, a searing pain went through her, causing her back to arch forward. Vaguely, she noted the machine's laser slowly move up her body, and then her vision went black as the only thought in her mind was _Doctor_.

-POV-

The Doctor stumbled as, for the first time in over 6 years, he heard another time lord. No. A Time Lady...

He let his mind search for where the call originated from, but once again it, _she_, was gone.

And then he was inside the Museum.

He looked around, grinning at all of the tin people and humans socializing together. _Oh what a world._.

And then he caught on to one of their conversations.

"She looked just like a human! But something must have been different, because the coat of arms came and took her away before they announced another "live specimen"!"

He immediately arrowed onto the speaker and approached the man. "Excuse me, did you say that there was a new 'live specimen' that just came in?"

"Why yes I did! It looked to be feminine in nature, with a very humanesque stature, and yellow hair! I even got a picture of the thing!"

"Oh really? Could I see it?!" While his voice was excited, resignation began to grow inside of him.

He was right. It was Rose.

On the inside, he groaned, outwardly he grinned. "Oh wow! Where'd you see it?"

"Just right on the bottom floor!"

"Thank you for your time, sir!" Then he raced over to the elevator and pressed the down button. As everyone was just coming up, it wasn't a long wait for him to get onto an elevator going down.

-POV-

As the scanner came to a full stop, Rose hung from the restraints, pain resonating through her body. She could feel the pain in her chest beginning to make itself known again, but she struggled to block that as well.

"So this is what you do when you gain a 'new specimen'. You torture it." Rose's voice might have been weak, but her eyes were furious. She looked at the tin man, anger starting to vibrate within her.

The tin man looked up at her, shock in his expression. "Why, no! I wouldn't dream of such a thing! But the program is unable to categorize you, labeling you as an unknown specimen. It is my job to find out _what_ you are."

"I'm a human girl! Don't your machines recognize humans?!"

"Well, according to this machine, you aren't human."

Shock sparked in her momentarily before she shook her head. "Well your machine must be wrong!"

"I am quite confident that this machine is able to recognize thousands of millions of species without any hindrance. Humans being one of them.

-POV-

The Doctor stepped out of the elevator, glancing around. Then he walked over to a small group of people.

"Excuse me, Do you know which way the 'specimen' was taken?"

"It was taken through those doors over there, but I think they are locked."

"Oh, I work here, I just didn't know which wing they took her to." The Doctor thanked them and stepped over to the doors, where he adjusted the sonic screwdriver to let himself in.

He kept his senses on alert for the suits of armor as he began checking each room for a sign of Rose.

-POV-

"Now we have one more scan to get through before we move on to different tests. This one tends to be worse than the other, though it is over more quickly, so brace yourself." The tin man showed no emotion at torturing her, causing more anger than she already was dealing with.

She had only a fraction of second for fear to speed up her heart rate before the machine turned back on. The blue lazer-like-thing began to move horizontally across her, making her feel like she was slowly being burned from the inside. The pain was slow, intense, and doubled by the pain in her chest expanding to reach all of her now.

She couldn't stop the scream that escaped her before everything went black once again, this time sending her unconscious.

-POV-

The Doctor froze only a moment before racing towards the scream that he had heard. _That was Rose.._. His panic only made him more determined, finding the room within seconds. Anger grew inside of him as he thought of what they could possibly be doing to her.

He threw open the door to find no one inside the room, except Rose. She was hanging limp from a gurney turned vertical. He felt his hearts stop for a second before he ran over to her.

"Rose!" He went first for her pulse, to see if her heart was still beating. Her heartbeat was sporadic, causing his anxiety to increase.

Then he heard the door open, and he spun around to find a tin man entering, a surprised look on his face.

"_What did you do to her!?_" He was angry. The Oncoming Storm didn't even cover it.

The tin man had enough sense to be afraid. His eyes were wide as he backed away. He reached for the door handle, but not before the Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to lock it.

"What. Did. You. Do." He began approaching the tin man, and he was lucky that he didn't have a weapon, or surely he would have done something he'd have regretted. Maybe.

As it was, he was pulled to a stop by a voice behind him.

"Doctor?" Rose's voice was faint.

He spun around moving to stop beside her. "Rose, I'm here." He grabbed her hand before turning towards the tin man. "Make her horizontal, _now_."

The tin man did as he was told, and then Rose was no longer hanging by the restraints. The Doctor leaned over to listen to her heart, his own dropping when he heard how weak it sounded. "Rose, you hang in there, you hear me?" He began to use his sonic on the restraints, hoping that if he could get her back to the TARDIS and to the med bay...

"Doctor... Need to sleep... Hurts..."

"I know it hurts, but you need to stay awake, okay?" Panic only steeled his resolve to get her out of there.

"Love you..."

"And I love you, Rose Tyler, so don't you give up on me!" He got the last restraint off, and froze only for a moment when he saw how shallow her breathing had become. "Hang in there," He begged for her to stay with him.

He didn't bother wasting time to threaten the tin man, he just picked Rose up and began carrying her out. Before he even got her out of that one hallway, though, he saw her chest stop moving.

The Doctor was frozen, every atom of his existence in denial. "_Rose_..." he breathed out her name. Then the denial shifted to anger. "Rose! Don't you dare die on me, Rose Tyler! Wake up and _Breathe_!"

He knelt down, gently laying her on the ground. "Don't give up, Rose. I love you and I need you here, okay?" He started doing first aid to her as he spoke, his voice rough with emotions he didn't have time to sort out. He didn't even notice the tear that slid down his face and on to hers.

And then she breathed.

Relief came first, and then shock as a golden glow overcame Rose. Her eyes opened, and stared into his, the gold shimmering through her.

The Doctor just stared, stunned, as she became golden dust in his arms only to reappear several feat away, looking at something only she could see.

Then she turned back to him. "My Doctor," She spoke, the double tone of her voice echoing in the air around them. He slowly stood up.

"I saw this, our paths. I knew what we would face, the pain we would suffer through, but I also saw what would happen in the end."

Rose once again dematerialized and rematerialized in front of The Doctor, who stood speechless.

"I've looked through past, present, and future; All of the possibilities across the universe. And I found a way. It hurt, but I needed to bind with the time vortex to succeed. To stay with you. My Doctor."

Rose stepped towards him once more, looking into his eyes. "And now I must finish the process. Take me back to the TARDIS, Doctor, and I will be complete."

Then, before the Doctor could even protest, Rose's eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed. The Doctor just barely managed to grab her before she hit the ground. He then watched as she expelled remnants of the time vortex from herself, very similar to what he did when he needed to regenerate.

The Doctor looked around helplessly for a moment, then lifted Rose into his arms and began his journey back to the TARDIS. He ignored any questions or stares. His own look was threatening enough to discourage anyone from trying to stop him.

**Author's Note: Okay, so two more chapters, then I am done. That's official. I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading!**


	10. Chapter 9

The Doctor sat in the console room, just staring at nothing. He had taken Rose to her room, letting her sleep off what had happened, and then he had gone back to the console room, where he sat and... well, he sat.

He, the Doctor, a time lord over 900 years old, seemed to be going through some form of shock.

And then the TARDIS woke him up out of his daze with an image of Rose beginning to stir. His mind started working again.

Rose yawned, stretching her arms out beside her. Her eyes slowly fluttered open as she fought the confusion that muddled her brain. Her brow furrowed as she couldn't recall anything after she went inside that museum place.

She sat up, but that was the wrong thing to do as a pounding headache began to make itself known. She groaned and fell backwards onto the bed. _What did I _do_ yesterday?._

She eyed the door that she was mentally willing to bring her tea; Her mom's cure for everything.

Her mom...

Tears stung the back of her eyes as she thought of that experience, but she fought them back.

She rubbed between her eyes as she sat up, trying to possibly relieve her headache slightly.

Then surprise held her frozen for a moment as the Doctor came into her room holding a cup of hot tea. She blinked as she took in the sight. Then she only became more confused.

"Did I sleep in?" He only really ever came into her room when she spent too much time in there and he got bored.

She saw something pass through his expression, but she couldn't label it. He then shook his head. "No, not really. The TARDIS let me know you were awake, and as I figured - and figured right, mind you - that you would have a headache, I brought you some tea."

She was stunned as she automatically accepted the cup. "Um...This might sound weird, but what happened yesterday?"

"You don't remember?" It was a question, but he looked as if he already knew the answer.

"No.. I remember going to that one museum thing, but after that..." She trailed off as she saw him nod. "What happened?"

"Well, it's a bit hard to explain..." he rubbed at the back of his neck awkwardly.

She knew he was keeping something from her. She narrowed her eyes. "Doctor..." There was a warning in her voice.

He ran a hand through his hair before speaking. "Well it's a bit difficult to explain because I don't actually know," at which he paused and pointed at her, annoyance in his eyes, "And that does _not_ happen often!" He began to pace, "But I have ideas. Er, well, _one_ idea."

Then he looked back at her, guilt layering his expression. "And it goes back quite a while as well." He paused a moment, studying her.

Worry and anxiety cause her to pull her legs up to her chest, wrapping her arms around herself. Her headache and the tea were long forgotten.

"Ahhhh, well, do you remember way back, right before this regeneration? You, uh, woke up on the floor of the TARDIS and didn't remember what happened? Weeeelll, that is pretty much what happened, again. sorta. But different..."

"Doctor!" She interrupted him, trying to get answers rather than his ramblings.

"Ah, sorry. Um... Short answer?"

He looked like he was feeling so awkward, it really was worrying her. She just nodded.

"I _think_ you are, um, a time lord. And that isn't a sexist gesture, because my people didn't think like that, you are a girl, obviously, but..."

His voice trailed off in her head, not hearing anything after the "time lord." part. Everything, both inside and out, was frozen.

Then the Doctor was right in front of her, his hands on her shoulders. "Rose, breathe." While his voice was soothing so as to calm her, his eyes betrayed the panic and worry he was feeling.

She listened, though, and then her mind began racing. "I'm a time lord, like the duplicate of you?" Panic began to crawl up her spine as she saw the other Doctor aging and dying once again. Then she saw it happening to herself.

"No, I believe, from what you had said earlier, that you are _fully_ time lord. The other me was half human, and you have been fully transformed into a time lord."

"From what _I_ said earlier?" Confusion mixed with her worry.

THe Doctor swallowed, unsure how to go about explaining things. "And that goes back to that what I was saying earlier." Now he sat down, not looking at her because he didn't want to chicken out. " Im sure you remember me sending you back, and then what happened was that you looked into the heart of the TARDIS. You took in the time vortex, and it was going to kill you. You took the TARDIS back to satellite 5, and you turned all the Daleks to dust.

"You saved me, Rose, and I _had_ to save you. I took the time vortex out of you, and that is why I had to regenerate in the first place. But I must not have gotten it all out, because that is why you are a time lord now. Those pains you've been having? That was probably the changing process. Then, today, you went into that museum without me - Which I did not appreciate - and long story short, the time vortex took control of you again and told me that you were changing - Are changed.

Now he turned to look at her, not surprised to see shock written all over her face. "And now you have a pounding headache because you just went from being mostly human to fully time lord."

Rose listened to what he said, and then she realized something. Something she was shocked to not have realized before.

She had two hearts. She could _feel_ both hearts beating.

Her eyes grew wide, her hand reaching up to feel the beating of her second heart.

She was thoroughly stunned, not knowing what to even think. So she just stared at the Doctor.

"I'm not human?" Her voice was small, still too shocked to really think.

"No, Rose, and I am _so_ sorry." Guilt layered his voice as he watched her with concern.

Then something occurred to her. "But... Doesn't that mean I would be like you?"

The Doctor just nodded, trying to keep his own feelings from affecting hers. He wanted to know how she felt before allowing himself to express anything.

"Then..." she couldn't bring herself to say anything more. If he didn't want her to stay... She finally had _his_ forever, but now he was sorry.

She felt the tears starting to build. Once again, she fought them back. "If you want me to go - ."

She got interrupted by the Doctor pushing off the bed, frustration showing in every move he made.

"I can't even blame it on you being human now! You're just.. Female!" He spun around and pointed at her accusatorially. "That is your only excuse now!"

The Doctor's outburst surprised Rose speechless.

"You, Rose Tyler, are brilliant, but you still have moments of stupid! So, I will explain myself. I know what it's like to be a time lord. You love someone, and they die. You will have to deal with saying goodbye to numerous people, and I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

"Now that that is said, though, I am selfishly glad that you are a time lord, because then I will never have to say goodbye to the woman I love." Finally, he stopped his tirade and stood still, waiting for her response.

Relief washed over her as she felt like she was practically glowing, she was so happy. She stood up and walked over to the Doctor, a smile crossing over her face before she grew serious. "I'm sorry, Doctor, it's just hard for me to get over being sent away so much. And I don't want you to feel bad for that, Doctor, because it led me here. To you." She smiled then, her own love showing clearly on her face.

"It doesn't matter what else happens, because now I will have you, for _your_ forever."

The Doctor cupped Roses face in his hands, his eyes showing the deep seated love he felt for her.

"For _our_ forever."

Their lips met, passion igniting between them as the promise of forever hung over their hearts.

**Author's Note: The End!**

**Or not.**

**the epilogue will be arriving soon for your reading pleasure!**

**I would suggest not reading it if you are allergic to mushy, gooey, lovey stuff. Then again, I doubt you would have gotten this far if you were xD **


	11. epilogue

It was only three life or death adventures later that the Doctor decided to do it. Or, well, got the nerve to do it. 900 years old, and still a chicken.

Rose might be fully time lord now, but her history kept her mostly human. And so, he took every moment he could to prepare. Luckily for him, Rose kept her love of sleep, so even while she didn't need it, she still slept. All the more spare time for him.

After another adventure where they managed to save a little girl's parents, Rose retreated to the library. She longed to see her mother one more time... Just one hug, or a story about how she went shopping this one time and something happened...

She curled up onto the couch, making herself as small as possible as she fought the homesickness. She stared into the fire that was going inside the fireplace, letting herself zone out.

She didn't even notice it when the Doctor came in, causing her to jump when he spoke her name.

"Rose - sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He sat down across from her, worry in his eyes. "I know you want to be alone right now, but I think I know how to help... If you come with me." Hope shown through the worry.

Rose had reserves about doing anything right then, but she shrugged her shoulders and got off the couch.

The Doctor reached for her hand, then led her through the TARDIS, pausing at the doors. "Let's just go for a walk, okay?"

They stepped outside, and she took a moment to use her time lord sense to discover that it was present day London. The Doctor could do all that automatically, but it still took Rose some time.

She longed for home.

Then the Doctor's arms encircled her, causing her to realize that she _was_ home. She held on to him back, her heart - hearts - beginning to mend itself.

"I love you, Doctor." Her voice was quiet, slightly shaky.

"As I love you, Rose." They stayed like that for a while, then the Doctor pulled away. He once again took her hand and the two of them began walking aimlessly.

Or so she thought.

Surprise and amusement overcame her when she realized where they were. They had stopped at the side of a river, and across from them was the big wheel where the nesting consciousness had laid. Their first adventure.

She laughed, about to comment about it but froze when she turned to the Doctor.

He wasn't standing.

He was down on one knee. Holding a little square jewelry box.

"Rose Tyler, Will you do me the honor of being my wife?"

Rose was stunned speechless for a moment, and then a happy glow started to come over her. "Yes," She said, grinning at him, unable to say anything more.

The Doctor grinned back at her, love showing through his eyes. He met her halfway when she raced forward to hug him, swinging her around as claps erupted in the crowd that had gathered while their focus was on each other.

The Doctor grinned while Rose blushed at the attention.

Then the Doctor set her down, taking out the box and the ring inside it. "Rose Tyler," he started, sliding the ring onto her finger - a perfect fit, "you are now officially mine."

"It's beautiful." She said as she raised her hand to look at it. He must have had it custom made, because the symbols on it were foreign to her, probably from galifrey, except the diamond decorating the top of it. It was in the shape of a rose.

Her hearts swelled with love for this man that she had met out of shear luck.

Then he lent forward and kissed her in front of the whole crowd, sending up another round of cheers and making Rose's focus scramble away until all she felt was the Doctor's lips on hers.

Then he pulled back, both of them needing to breathe

"This was bad planning on my part," He whispered into her ear, "I need to get us back to the TARDIS, and we now have a crowd to get through."

They both laughed as they began making their way through the crowd, accepting congratulations from all different kinds of people. The Doctor loved it, all the people, because he was the Doctor. That only made Rose more amused.

Eventually they made it through the crowd and back to the TARDIS. Rose grinned at the Doctor, still surprised that he had actualy proposed to her. "I though time lords didn't have the same customs as humans?" She asked as he stepped over to the console, fiddling around with things for a minute.

"We don't, but I like that particular custom, and you, my dear Rose, still have the history of a human." He paused, then grinned at her. "That or I've been hanging out with your kind too much."

She just laughed.

Then the TARDIS activated, catching them both off guard. They both grabbed onto railings that they were thrown up against.

"Oops. Sorry. I didn't actually mean to do that, but I think the TARDIS is getting excited as well." He was the one laughing now as rose just shook her head at him.

"Where are we?"

"London, again, I just needed to change the time a bit, need to go do something. And you, Rose Tyler, need to pick out a dress." He smiled, more excited than he has felt in quite some time.

"We're actually doing the whole wedding thing?" She grinned, her own excitement beginning to build up.

"yes, we definitely are."

They stepped outside.

She wasn't good enough to know the exact date they were in, but she knew it was several years earlier.

The Doctor interrupted her thoughts. "I will do my duty as husband-to-be and escort you to the dress shop, but then I can't go inside. I'm not allowed to see you in the dress before the wedding." He winked at her. Then when they got to the doors of the shop, he paused. "Any requests for the maid of honor?"

A thought occurred to Rose, and she laughed out loud at the thought of the Doctor's response. "Jack!"

He groaned, "Oh, you _would_ pick him... Okay, you go start looking at dresses, and I will go pick up Jack so you won't be alone in there, okay?"

She nodded, growing slightly melancholy as she thought about her mom not being there. "Okay." Then she grabbed the Doctor right before he turned away, giving him a quick kiss. "Thank you for all this."

The Doctor smiled at her, his eyes growing soft. "You're welcome."

Then he was gone.

She turned around and entered the shop. The women who worked there were all really nice, and they all felt bad for her because she had no one else there. So, she went through and picked out a large amount of different dresses. She would try one on, step out and get compliments from the waiting woman, and then go back into the changing rooms and try not to think about the fact that her mom was never going to see her.

After the third dress, though, another customer came in.

She heard a voice that she could have sworn she heard before._ It can't be..._

She got into her fourth dress and stepped out of the room, and froze when she saw who it was. There was a group of women standing in the lobby area looking at the wedding dresses. One of them was her mother.

She started looking through dates using her time lord senses.

It was before her mom's wedding.

Jackie must have sense Rose's stare, because she glanced over at her. "Oi, what're you looking at?"

"Sorry, Rose stammered out, remembering that her mom wouldn't know her. "It's just that.. I feel like I've met you before."

"Yeah, well.." She paused in whatever she was saying. "Are you looking for a wedding dress alone?" Sympathy showed in her eyes.

She nodded her head, fighting back the tears that brimmed her eyes. "Yeah, M-my mom, she couldn't make it. I didn't know who else to ask."

"You poor sweetheart. Well, I'm shopping for a wedding dress as well, so why don't we look for dresses together, yeah?"

"I'd like that. A lot."

"I'm Jackie."

"Rose." They shook hands.

"Nice to meet you, Rose. Now, first word of advice? That style doesn't flatter your figure at all..."

They spent the next two hours trying on dresses until she found it. It was the dress her mom wore to the wedding. She had seen it in pictures. She grabbed it and walked over to Jackie.

"I think you should try this on."

"Oh, that's gorgeous! And I think you should try on this."

The two of them traded dresses and headed to their dressing rooms. When they came out, everyone knew that they both had finally found their perfect wedding dress.

The two of them grinned at each other, and then began getting their measurements for fitting the dresses perfectly. It didn't take very long, and soon they were changing back into their regular clothes.

Then Jack came into the shop, wearing a suit. He was attractive and he knew it, too. "Ladies" He nodded to the other women in the shop. "Rose, sorry I couldn't show up earlier." he stepped over to her and gave her a strictly impersonal kiss on the cheek.

It caused her to laugh. "Jackie, meet Jack Harkness. My Maid of Honor."

"Hello..."

"I know," Jack started, winking at Jackie, "It's a bit unorthodox, but I'm a good friend of her and her fiancee's, though she likes me more than her fiancee does." He grinned at Rose. "Anyways, the Doctor sent me over to pay for the dress and inquire as to when it would be ready."

Then he stepped over to the counter to talk to the checkout person.

Jackie stepped over to whisper in Rose's ear. "_That_ is your maid of honor and not your fiancee?!"

Rose laughed again. "No, I doubt Jack will ever settle down with once person."

Jack came back over. "Your dress is payed for and will be ready in an hour as it was practically made for you, Rose. The Doctor is waiting for you at a diner down the street, and his tux should be ready..." He checked his watch, "In an hour as well!"

Rose nodded before turning back to Jackie. "Would you mind if I gave you a hug?" She struggled not to get a little teary.

Jackie laughed, "Not at all."

Rose hugged her mom tight, so thankful to have her there for this. Then she knew she had to go. "Thank you, Jackie, for everything." Rose smiled at her, waved to the rest of the girls, and left.

She still felt sad that she probably wouldn't see her mom again, but something insider her was mended by having her mom see her in her wedding dress, even though she wouldn't know it was her daughter.

And so, Jack and Rose made some small talk as they headed to the diner arm in arm. Rose allowed herself to be happy, no longer feeling so upset that her mom wasn't there.

When they got to the diner, she smiled at the Doctor, love growing within her. "Thank you, Doctor." She knew he had planned the whole thing with meeting her mom. He knew she needed that.

He smiled in return.

"It's so nice to see you two not be in denial." Jack was grinning at the both of them, amused.

Rose and the Doctor both let that comment slide.

Then they sat down.

"The dress will be ready in an hour, and my guy will be ready in two." Jack updated him.

"Okay. Donna should be here any minute."

"Donna will be here?"

"yeah, I had to wipe her memory after she took in the time lord genes as well, so I just met up with the her that was before she did that, and we made an agreement before she starts traveling with me. She wont tell me that we met, and she gets to be my first man at the wedding." The Doctor grinned.

Rose had to laugh. Rose had a guy for a maid of honor, and the Doctor had a girl for a first man. How very... Them.

After a few minutes, Donna showed up, and the four of them sat in the diner joking about things for the next hour.

Then things got down to business. Rose went and got her hair styled and makeup quickly done before getting the dress on. Jack was there the whole thing, flirting with ever person he came in contact with.

Donna was with the Doctor as he got ready, and then the four of them met up at the base of the Torchwood tower where a man was standing waiting for them.

The wedding ceremony was quick as it was just a minister-for-hire type of situation. That and they didn't have much of an audience for them to be pressured by.

And so they took only the most important parts.

"Do you, Doctor, take Rose Tyler to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do." His eyes never once left Rose's the two of them intensely focused on each other.

"Do you, Rose Tyler, take the Doctor to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do." A smile began to show on her face, belief finally taking root.

"Then I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

The Doctor leaned down and kissed her, a kiss so filled with happiness and joy that she would have gotten lost in it if the Doctor hadn't reminded himself there were at least two onlookers.

Then they pulled back, staring into each other's eyes.

"I love you, Rose. I will always love you."

"Quite right, too." She had a second of giving him a teasing grin before she jumped into his arms, holding onto him as if her life depended on it. "If I didn't have two hearts, I don't know if my one heart could have held all the love I feel." She whispered into his ear.

Then they heard screams, causing all four of them to spin around.

The Doctor and Rose looked at each other, excited grins mimicked on their faces. Then, hands connected, the two of them were racing towards the commotion.

**Author's Note: *sniff* I am so sad to actually be done... I don't think I've really done anything _but _write this the last few days. **

**I just want to thank everyone one last time for reading this =) It was such an experience for me to have people read my story and actually like it. Thank you all so much! Hope you liked the ending ;D **

**And if you have some idea that you maybe want to see put into words and you don't have the time or really feel like writing it, pm me and maybe I can do something about that =)**

**Thanks again!**


	12. Just me with good news

**Author speaking.**

**So, good news! I promised you a story, and it is in it's making. I only got the prologue up for today, but I will get more up in no time. Thank you guys again for all your help. **

**See you in the sequel!**

**(As posted below)**

** s/9633923/1/Our-Forever-is-Not-Alone**


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